caddyman

The other day after driving my 71 coupe on the highway I came to a stop light and the engine sputtered, ran rough for a second or two and then stalled. It restarted fairly easily and did it again at the next light. This time it took a bit of pumping the gas to get it going, then it ran real rough for a second and then smoothed right back out. It ran fine the rest of the way home, only about 6 blocks. I went to take it out again and it started a bit rough, I figured it was because the outside temp was only 15 deg or so. Once I pulled the choke out a bit it ran real nice. I drove about 8 blocks or so to dropoff another car at the shop for new tires and when I pulled in following the other car my car sputtered and died. I tried to restart but it just sputtered and only a few cylinders fired. I pushed it into a parking space and made sure there was gas in the tank, there was, made sure I didn't flood it, tried again, tried pulling the choke(manual), tried some starter fluid after waiting a while and nothing. Only one or two pops every now and again. I replaced the coil and nothing more... What is wrong? The old point distributor was replaced with some afetermarket hei, not sure what. Must be offbrand or a ford part, not MSD. Any thoughts? Is it fuel related or spark? I'm gonna check for spark again tomorrow.

Thanks

caddyman

longlive289s

when is the last time u replaced the fuel filter? doubt it but that punk could be clogged to hell if u havnt replaced it for a while and if your running crappy gas *cough*arco*cough......sry

Bulldog66

Just start simple and go from there.

Check all filters ( may be one at the carb as well ) - check for 12v starting at the battery to the coil, etc.

It's sounding simple to be honest. My first guess isfuel related.If not, we can go from there once you've ruled out all the easy stuff.

restomod66

Jets in carb could be plugged due to junk in the fuel?? Give them a good cleaning.

Soaring

Take the fuel line off at the carb and get a jar to put the end of the line in. Have someone try to start the car while you watch the fuel flow into the jar. If you have good pressure, then you need to clean your carburetor. If you don't have good pressure, then you need to change out the filters and possibly replace the fuel pump.

Colorado_Mustang

Carb could be icing up as well. Make sure the carb is staying warm enough. There's a limit to how much cold air you want on your carb, especially in a moist climate.

Check the fuel supply situation first.

Lumbergh

Well, it doesn't sound like a fuel problem if using starting fluid didn't do the trick, and alow at least a few cylinders to fire. You might think that it has to be fuel related because choking the engine improved it at least momentarily. I had a problem wiht my truck earlier this yearwhere it was running rich and misfiring under load. After wasting much time on the fuel system and looking for vacuum leaks, it turned out to be the timingwas off. It could be the hei conversion kit; that is an ignition part that could give up the ghost, and quickly go from just fine to won't even start. I would start bychecking for spark at the plugs. Remove one plug wire at a time and insert a spark plug, ground it and look for the spark while the starter turns the engine over. Move on to thenext spark plug and check them all for a good consistent spark. As mentioned, you could also check for voltage at the coil. Definitely easier, so maybe that is where I would start.

caddyman

To be honest, I have not had a lot of time or money to play with it this winter. I replaced the fuel filter with an after market clear one. It started and ran well after that so I thought I had fixed it... but then it started doing similar things again. Would run at idle while cold but if you gave it gas it would sputter orfrom a cold start it would pop a few times, sputter a little, but thats it. How can I identify my distributor especially if it is now an aftermarket hei? It looks like the old one but instead of the smaller cap it has a big cap and is pointless. Oh, and it does the same thing with the air filter off.

Note: The carb is a Holley model 1850. Last spring one of the fuel bowls was leaking so I replaced it with a spare one from another 1850 and had no problems. I belive it is a 600cfm carb. Is this a decent match for a stock or slighlty modified 351c 4v w/ headers? It's what was on it when I bought it. Looks to have been rebuilt in the last 5 years. I have a spare one for parts.

Thanks for all the help.

03Mach69Mach

You might check for a vacuum leak around the carb. Take your starter fluid can and while running, spray about the base of the carb (outside) while idling, if the idle speeds up, then you have a vacuum leak. Also, you want to look at the vacuum hoses & caps on the carb to see if any are cracked.

Good luck and post your results of your findings.

caddyman

Went to check out the distributor cap and rotor and I cracked the cap. We'll say that it was probably bad anyway... Found out its a ford distributor that the previous owner installed an Ignitor II in. Tried to find a new cap, got an MSD cap and rotor, and found out it won't fit b/c ofthe monte carlo bar. Its a 1/4 to 1/2 in taller than the old cap. There is a cap adapter on the distributor to use a larger cap. I'm wondering what the benifits are of the larger cap? Its awefuly cramped under that bar right now. Any thoughts how to make some room?

Thanks for the help so far.

Oh, gonna replace the fuel pump. It's still under warranty.



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